Every Trail Tells a Story
Bolinas Ridge
Hike one of the longest ridge walks in the Bay Area.
Nonstop views west to Point Reyes and east to Mount Tam.
Cap off your ridge ramble with a redwood finale.
Bolinas Ridge, a long finger of land bordered by Highway 1 and Point Reyes National Seashore on the west, is perhaps the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s most remote landscape. (BTW this wild northernmost part of GGNRA is administered by PRNS.) Ridge hikers are treated to dramatic vistas of Olema Valley to the west and the forested state parks – Mount Tamalpais and Samuel P. Taylor – to the east.
Long ago, Bolinas Ridge was heavily forested with redwood and Douglas fir. Those stately giants were logged and milled into lumber to build San Francisco. Today, the ridge is a wide expanse of open grassland, dotted here and there with coast live oak, remnant groves of Douglas fir, and patches of second-growth redwoods.
In winter and spring, the hills glow green, and come April, they’re scattered with purple iris, gold California poppies, and other wildflowers. Summer and fall turn the ridges golden brown, the archetypal California look-and still beautiful, especially when set against the deep blue of Tomales Bay.
The ridge is also cow country. You’ll probably share the trail with a few Herefords or Black Angus. And even if you don’t, you’ll encounter plenty of their calling cards. Step lively.
True to its name, Bolinas Ridge Trail keeps faith with the high ground for 11.2 miles, making this a superb one-way day hike if you can arrange a car shuttle. Without one, pick your turnaround point: Jewell Trail junction for a brisk 2.6-mile out-and-back, Shafter Trail for a longer 10.2-mile round trip. But if you’ve got the legs (and the snacks), go the whole distance. The payoff is the redwood groves along the southern reaches of the ridge.
This trail draws mountain bikers as well as hikers, but the path is wide and there’s room for all. Dogs are allowed, too. Your four-legged pal will get as much of a workout as you do, which seems only fair.
From Highway 101 in San Rafael, exit on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and drive west 17.5 miles to the trailhead on the left side of the road. Park carefully along the highway. The southern trailhead is located on Bolinas-Fairfax Road a few miles east of Highway 1.
Join the ascending dirt road, which curves south through rolling grassland. Before long, views open east across Olema Valley and behind you to Tomales Bay and Point Reyes Peninsula.
About 1.3 miles of hiking brings you to the top of the ridge and a junction with Jewell Trail, which drops east to Lagunitas Creek. Continue along the ridgetop for grand views west to forested Inverness Ridge and Barnabe Peak in Samuel P. Taylor State Park.
The wide trail crosses open grassland punctuated by live oaks and reminders of ranching life-fences, corrals, cattle chutes. After another mile, firs appear, clinging to the eastern slopes and growing more numerous as you proceed.
Four miles out, the ridge broadens, views expand, and you arrive at Shafter Trail. This is a fine turnaround for shorter hikes. Continue southward, though, and you’ll soon be walking in shade: redwoods, sword ferns at their feet, and Douglas iris brightening the understory. Randall Trail drops east here; another mile and a half brings McCurdy Trail.
From McCurdy, it’s 3.4 miles to the finish. Expect more redwoods, then a transition to manzanita and ceanothus chaparral, before re-entering tall trees for the last stretch. The final mile, a quiet walk through cathedral groves, makes for a splendid benediction to the day.